


Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall

by w0uldyoukindly



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 3, Fallout 4
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-20
Updated: 2017-05-20
Packaged: 2018-11-03 01:09:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10956549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/w0uldyoukindly/pseuds/w0uldyoukindly
Summary: Nora struggles to remember her past, but one memory remains clear to her forever.





	Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall

**Author's Note:**

> This is a backstory of my Fallout character that I've been posting about on my Instagram for over a year now. I mainly wrote this for my followers who've shown interest in my character's history so if you're a little confused then I don't really blame you lol if you want to check her out I make posts of Nora quite frequently, along with other Fallout related stuff. (@w0uldyoukindly)  
> Anyway I'm kind of new here so I don't know squat about how this all works yet ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ but give me time and maybe I'll get the hang of it soon! Tags and all that good stuff will come later.

Nora had no idea where she came from. She couldn’t remember where she was born, who her parents were, or the name she was given, if she was even given one at all. There were quite a bit of holes in her past, to say the least. Sometimes she would feel sad about it, but honestly, all that really mattered to her now was trying to survive from one day to the next. Her earliest memory she could recall was being found by a woman near a ruined building, the building itself reduced to rubble and filth. Nora was four....maybe five years old at the time, and had nothing on but an old, grimy over-sized t-shirt. She remembered because it was so cold she couldn’t feel anything below her waist. She had no recollection of how she got to that spot, or how long she had been there; just a woman running up to her and frantically pulling her into another building nearby, all while looking over her shoulder multiple times and a terrified expression plastered on her face. 

Nora could only recall bits and pieces after that. The woman’s name was Anna, and she was young, too young now that Nora thought back on it. Couldn’t have been older than 18. She didn’t remember much of the woman’s physical features other than her flaming red hair and a face almost completely covered in freckles, along with a few scars here and there. Anna was blunt but kind, and she only lost her temper a few times. She called Nora ‘kid’, which was fine since even Nora didn’t know her own name. They traveled together for what felt like a few weeks, but it could have been months. Anna taught her how to survive on her own; where to find food, what to pick and to leave behind, what medicine looked like, and what she could use as alternatives for it. “Just in case we get separated”, she’d say. She also taught Nora to stay quiet when they needed to hide, and to run when she was told, no matter what. Unfortunately, Nora had to put all these lessons to use sooner than she would have liked. And even more unfortunate, this was one of her clearest memories. 

They were searching for a safe place to stay that night, as it was getting colder and darker by the minute. Anna was walking a bit funny, and it wasn’t until a few years later that Nora realized she was probably limping due to an injury she got trying to keep them both alive. Her pieces of leather armor had started to fall apart as well, and whatever she managed to salvage, she used to make smaller versions for Nora. She also came across a children’s coat to go over that over-sized shirt, and some fabric she wrapped around each leg of Nora’s little legs and feet. It wasn’t enough, but it was better than nothing.

They walked along the cracked road, prewar cars scattered in all directions, until they came up to an overpass. Nora looked around and didn’t see any buildings that resembled the ones they had stayed in before, and that’s when she heard Anna sigh heavily.

“Alright, kid. I guess this is as good as it’s gonna get tonight. We’ll have to find some place to squeeze in so nothing bad finds us. Stick close to me while I take a look around, okay?” 

Nora simply looked up at her and nodded like she usually did. For a kid she was pretty quiet, not really knowing what to say most of the time anyway. Anna gave her a weak smile, then lifted her hunting rifle and proceeded towards the overpass. The night was clear, so clear that Nora could see her own breath in front of her face, reminding her of the chilling temperatures. A scent hit her as they got closer; the smell of something foul, something rotting, or dead. She clung to Anna’s jacket, suddenly feeling uneasy of how close she was to the ground. She had stumbled on a body once before while they were scavenging for food. Nora didn’t realize that the body and horrible smell were connected until she felt Anna yank her away. ‘Don’t look’, she said. She had explained to Nora that they used to be people, and that they were simply gone. ‘Just pretend they’re lumps on the ground’. But she knew they were alive once, and that maybe they were killed by something still skulking around nearby.

As they got closer to the overpass, Nora saw it. The outline of a figure next to one of the cars. It was sprawled out on the ground, wrapped in layers of dirty clothes and some pieces of armor littered across its body. There was a small pack near its arm and Nora could see a combat knife sticking out of one of the pockets, along with some other supplies that had fallen out. Anna didn’t seem to notice it, instead checking underneath some of the cars nearby. Nora crept closer, heart pounding faster by the second. Once she got close enough, she could see that its face was also wrapped in some sort of worn, filthy fabric. All of it except the eyes, which were closed. Gone. Nora let out the breath she’d been holding, and reached down to pick up the supplies that had fallen out. Three stimpaks, a couple of rad-aways, and a bottle of questionable looking water. She picked up the backpack, and it was then that her eyes fell onto the 10mm pistol clutched in its other hand. 

“You okay there, kid,” Anna asked quietly from a couple of cars away.

Nora looked over at her and nodded, lifting up the pack for Anna to see, who responded with a grin and a thumbs up gesture. Nora looked back down at the gun and made the decision to reach for it, even though she would have to lean over the body to get it. She took a deep breath through her mouth to avoid the awful stench as much as she could and reached for the pistol. After she managed to pry it out of the person’s hand she struggled not to drop it, afraid it would make too much noise and attract unwanted company. It felt heavy in her small hand, like something with so much power didn’t belong with something so tiny. 

Just then she heard a hiss nearby, almost like a gurgling moan. She looked around to find Anna raising her rifle and rushing to over her as fast as she could, given the state of her leg. Then, another hiss, only it sounded more like a growl this time, coming from underneath the car. At first Nora thought it was the body she had taken the supplies from, having maybe been asleep the whole time but instead, a person began crawling out from underneath the car, their hisses and growls had become louder and louder. Nora felt a small spark of hope that they had found a living, someone to help them get through this nightmare. Maybe they could actually have a decent life. All that hope was lost when Nora saw what was really crawling toward her. It looked like a person, but it had yellowish, leathery looking skin and wreaked of death. One of it’s eyes was missing from the socket and pieces of skin were either hanging off of its body or simply missing altogether. It seemed more like an animal, or a monster. Before Nora had time to study the creature any further, she heard a gunshot crack into the air, and watched as this thing’s head exploded, dark fluid and rotting flesh flying in every possible direction, including her face and clothes. It took everything Nora had to suppress the scream that was caught in her throat as she looked at Anna in absolute horror. 

“Wh-a...why” was all she managed to squeak out.

Before Anna had a chance to answer, there was another growl nearby. This time it was much louder and seemed to come from different directions, almost like there were multiple sources. Nora’s heart began to race inside her chest as she glanced up at Anna, who looked just as terrified as Nora felt. But her fearful expression was soon replaced with a look of sadness, almost like she was on the verge of tears. Anna knelt down and quickly started to remove what was left of her armor and gear, fastening them tightly around whatever space Nora had on her body. Then she grabbed Nora’s shoulders tightly and looked directly into her eyes.

“Listen to me, kid. I want you to run. Run as fast as you can, back the way we came, okay? I’ll try to hold the ghouls off as long as I can, but you have to listen to me. You have to go.” Tears began to form in both of their eyes as Nora heard the growls getting closer and closer. Anna looked behind her for the briefest moment then turned back and started to push Nora away, seeing her hesitation to leave her behind.

“Go kid. You gotta go, now!” her voice cracked. 

Nora bit her lip and took off in the opposite direction, her small feet hitting the pavement like her body weighed a ton. The night suddenly felt colder than before, and she was struggling to keep the air in her lungs. She ran for about 30 seconds, somehow managing to make it to a nearby building and round the corner before she heard more gunshots, followed by what sounded like Anna’s pained screams, tearing through Nora like shards of glass. She made the unfortunate mistake of looking over her shoulder, and witnessing one of the most terrifying sights of her life. Anna was on the ground, still making an attempt to crawl away, but it was no use. About 10 more of those things were on her like feral animals, ripping her body apart. Nora almost choked on the scream she was still trying to contain, quickly shutting her eyes and covering her ears. The screams made her blood run cold, and it took everything in her body not to go back and try to help Anna. Then just like that, the screaming stopped, and everything went quiet. She stood there for a moment, just staring at the ground, trying to catch her breath. Her vision became blurred, and after a few more deep breaths Nora wrapped her arms around herself and let herself cry. To this day, Nora felt like a little bit of her soul died that night, along with Anna. Looking back she wished that she had done something more, tried to help her in some way. But what could she have done? She was just a kid. A kid who had suddenly felt empty and alone in this world, having no one to turn to for guidance or protection. And once again, Nora  
had no one.


End file.
